It's Dark Inside
by emalinaloop
Summary: Alone is what we have, alone is what protects us. After years of hurt and loss, how could someone believe any different? In a universe where angels are just as bad as demons, rage comes naturally. He's the last of his kind, she's an anomaly. Tragedy separated them and now it's bringing them back together.
1. Goodbyes

He straightened his bow tie. It was his favorite one; a deep blue and covered in little stars. Though the constellations were horribly inaccurate, the Doctor still loved it. It had been one last Christmas present from his Amelia Pond. Even River had not dared to make a comment on it, though he could still sense her overall disapproval of his wardrobe.

"Time for me to go, Sweetie," River told him, her voice lacking its usual teasing tone. He wanted to tell her not to go, to stay there, with him. She did not know what was awaiting her, and he knew he could never tell her. He stared down at the console.

"River," he said, pausing briefly. "Take this with you." In his outstretched hand was his sonic screwdriver. She stared down in disbelief.

"Doctor, what's wrong?"

"Nothing River," he smiled at her. For good measure, he gestured to his bow tie. "How can anything be wrong? I'm wearing a bow tie, which is incredibly cool."

She seemed to accept this answer and smiled back at him. She walked up to him with purpose and backed him against the console. She kissed him full on the lips and much to her satisfaction, the Time Lord's face was bright red.

When The Doctor's head cleared, Professor River Song had left the TARDIS for a final time.

He had been mentally preparing himself for this moment since the Library. For a brief moment he was swept up in memories of a taller, lankier him and the brilliant Donna Noble. He could practically hear her yelling at him, "Oi Spaceman!"

The faces of former companions now were streaming through his mind. Guilt poured into his stomach when he realized that he had not thought of many of them in ages. Sarah Jane Smith, Amy and Rory, Martha Jones, and finally, Rose Tyler's brilliant blonde head was in his mind's eye.

A pang of loneliness shot through both of his hearts. If his time line was correct, it had been around three hundred years since he had seen his pink and yellow human for a final time. The Doctor was sure that the TARDIS coral that he had given Rose and his duplicate had grown into a magnificent ship just like his own. He hoped with everything he had that Rose and her Doctor had spent their lives traveling the stars. The Doctor and Rose Tyler, just as it should be.

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Rose Tyler raced around a corner, her converse skidding as she narrowly avoided a head-on collision with a brick wall. Behind her, a Judoon was chasing her, ordering her to stop. Rose simply threw her head back in laughter and continued to speed ahead.

Her TARDIS lay a short distance away. Even though the Chameleon Circuit on this ship was fully functional, Rose kept her TARDIS as a blue police call box. An homage to the original ship and Doctor.

She reached the doors with the rhinoceros looking creature right on her heels. Rose slammed the doors shut and smiled proudly as she looked around her ship. The bright orange light that illuminated the ship seemed even more comforting than it usually did, though she still missed the corals of the original Doctor's TARDIS. It had been seventy years for her since she had been reunited with the Doctor. Seventy years of loving John Smith.

The picture she had of the Doctor's duplicate was still in its place on the console, his warm smile contrasting the metal which it sat on. "Allson-y!" Rose said, throwing a lever and plugging in coordinates. Suddenly, a sound that Rose recognized at the TARDIS' cloister bell rang out in a sickening tone. "Oi, what's going on old girl?" A sudden jolt shook the ship, causing Rose to fall flat on the cold floor. She checked her hands for any injuries and was relieved to see that there were only the grate marks of the floor impressed on her hands.

A projection of her duplicate Doctor, John Smith suddenly appeared in front of her. His glasses were perched on the tip of his nose and he was wearing his favorite blue suit.

"This is Program Epsilon One. If you're seeing this Rose, it means that I'm dead and you are very much alive. This program is designed to kick in one year after my date of death. You'll get explanations soon enough. I programmed the TARDIS to take you back to your original universe seeing as all of your family is wellll...anyway, our TARDIS should be able to lock onto other me's ship."

Rose's mouth was agape, never had the idea of returning to her old universe even come up in a discussion between them. She hadn't even realized that it was possible.

"Rose, one more thing. Other me, he's probably...changed by now. He'll be different not only in appearance but also personality. He may be travelling with other people as well. But if I know me like I think I do, which isn't a pleasant thing mind you, he's still got a soft spot for you, Rose Tyler. One more thing before you go through the Vortex, Rose, we had the best of times, the best. You and I got to live out the adventure I thought I could never have, and I'd do it all again, dying and all, in a heartbeat." The transmission cut off and Rose sat on the ground, staring at where the projection of her Doctor had been.

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**Hi, I really hope you liked that chapter. The Doctor and Rose will be reunited in the coming chapters. **

**Please review!**

**~Em**


	2. Heart of Steel

**Oh my goodness, I did not anticipate the response I got on the last chapter! Thank you all so much!**

***Disclaimer* I don't own anything except the story line.**

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Rose sat on the metal floor for minutes after. Even after she felt the TARDIS stop she made no move to stand up. Every ounce of confidence had been drained out of her. After seventy years, she had been able to convince herself that she didn't need the Doctor, she had John. It didn't matter that every time she saw John she was reminded of the man with the same face whom she had loved first. It didn't matter that every night she could still hear the Doctor's words: "He needs you, that's very me." If the Doctor had needed her so much, he would have found a way to keep her, right? _Get a hold of yourself. For God's sake, bloody protector of the whole universe, Bad Wolf, you're Rose Tyler. Now act like it. _

Slowly, she got her feet out from under her and stood up, smoothing out her clothing and hair. "Pull up the video feed old girl." Rose put her hand on the console of the TARDIS, trying to soothe her weakened ship. The screen came to life and Rose saw she was in fact, floating in empty space. No solid ground or TARDIS in sight. With a heavy sigh Rose checked her coordinates. "Oh John," she half laughed, shaking her head.

Rose raced to the doors of the TARDIS and threw them open, taking in the spectacle before her. Of all the places in this universe to have the TARDIS take her, he had chosen a nebula located almost 5,000 light years away from Earth. The Rosette Nebula. And it truly did live up to its name. Brilliantly colored clouds of gas all meshed together to form what resembled a rose, her namesake. Several stars were dotted around the center, almost making the whole thing sparkle.

"Thank you," she whispered to no one in particular. Rose took one last look and then shut the doors. "Resume Program Epsilon One," she told the TARDIS. Her ship hummed weakly in response. With a lurch, her ship was moving again. Rose occasionally hit a lever or pushed a button. Overall, the flight was smoother than any had been with the Doctor. John had taught her how to fly their ship near perfectly.

After canceling the program several times only to resume it, thanks to her nerves and indecision, Rose felt the TARDIS begin to shake violently. Checking the scanners she saw that the TARDIS was caught up in a powerful transmat beam. "Damn," she cursed under her breath.

The TARDIS stopped with a sudden jolt and everything went silent. Rose checked the video feed and noticed the familiar setup. Satellite Five. The birthplace of the Bad Wolf. She quickly grabbed her sonic screwdriver off of one of the metal seats in the room and pushed the doors open. Rose heard herself say "Geronimo," a phrase that was completely unfamiliar but for some reason felt fitting.

The corridor she stepped into was empty. There were no signs of the horrid television shows that had been broadcast from this very station. Rose navigated the hallways cautiously, using her sonic to scan for any remaining life. Her ears picked up the sound of marching. The steady rhythm of an approaching army grew in volume so quickly that Rose had no choice but to turn and run.

She wasn't fast enough. "Delete!" A robotic voice cried after her. The light from the Game Station was barely enough to make Rose's path visible so she quickly soniced some of the lights to increase the brightness. No sooner had she done this that a Cyberman was illuminated right in front of her.

Rose made a move to go in the opposite direction but heard the sound of more metal feet stomping. She was trapped.

"You lot again," she scowled.

"You are an associate of the Doctor," the Cyberman in front of her deadpanned.

"Was," she corrected the creature bitterly. "I was. Haven't seen him in several decades."

"Do not lie. Cybermen do not tolerate lying."

"I'm not lying you thick-headed metal man!" Rose yelled and tried to shove past the machine in front of her.

"The Doctor is here. It is no coincidence that his companion be here too."

"He's here?" Rose asked, letting her guard slip just a little too much. Two Cybermen approached her from behind and restrained her hands.

"You are proof."

"Of what?" She snapped in reply. She struggled against her restraints but it was no use. Her sonic screwdriver lay on the floor in front of her and she cringed as a Cyberman crushed it with his heavy metal boot.

"That emotions make you weak,"

Rose didn't have time to make a clever remark because she was quickly led back through the corridors she had gone through. They continued walking until they stopped in front of the elevator and moved quickly towards floor five hundred.

The heavy doors slid open, revealing rows of unoccupied monitors. The dim blueish light illuminated the words "Bad Wolf." Rose's eyes swept the room quickly and prayed that the Cybermen had been lying. The Doctor wouldn't come back here, why would he ever come back here?

In the corner, there was a man with a messy mop of brown hair who was handcuffed to a large pipe. His tweed jacket was torn and his bow tie had come untied. Turning his head at the noise, his green eyes widened in terror when he saw Rose standing with the Cybermen.

"Rose?"

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**So the Doctor and Rose are reunited (sort of.) What role will the Cybermen play in our two heroes fates? Why the heck of all the places in the universe are they back on Satellite Five? All these questions will be answered in the coming chapters.**

**I really hope you liked this chapter.**

**Please review!**

**~Em**


	3. All These Years

**Hi there lovely readers! **

**I'd love to thank everyone who has favorited/followed/reviewed this story so far. Your feedback means more to me than you could know.**

***Disclaimer* I don't own anything accept the story line**

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She looked the same as she had nearly three hundred years ago. The Doctor felt his breath catch half in wonder, half in terror that she was there. He bit his lip and struggled harder against his handcuffs. Nothing came of it except that his wrists were even more sore from the metal being dug into them.

"Hello Doctor," he heard her mumble. There wasn't a single drop of happy tone in her voice. So she wasn't glad to see him. Why would she be? It had been so long, he had moved on more or less (at least he tried to) and she had his duplicate. He had hurt her, why would she ever be glad to see him?

"Communication will cease," one of the Cybermen commanded, taking a threatening step towards Rose. She didn't recoil from its raised metallic hand. Instead, she stepped forward to confront the machine.

"No. I'm Rose Tyler, the Bad Wolf, defender of the Earth and my universe. I can understand and speak countless languages. I destroyed the Dalek Emperor with a flick of my hand. I sent thousands of Cybermen into the Void. If anyone's going to be shutting up, it's you!" The Doctor marveled at her. His pink and yellow human had grown up. He then realized that she nearly quoted what his ninth incarnation had said when he was confronting the Dalek Emperor.

"Your words are meaningless." The two Cybermen who were restraining her arms led her towards another pipe on the opposite side of the dimly lit room.

"Once again Cybermen are victorious, Doctor."

"Oh and how's that mate? Doesn't seem like you lot have a plan. You captured me, bravo for that. Now what?" The Doctor piped up. ""Cos it seems like you don't have a plan." The Doctor turned his glance to Rose and smiled reassuringly at her. Well, as reassuringly as he possibly could look while facing an army of Cybermen.

"You are looking at our plan."

"Me?" Rose narrowed her eyes at the metal men. "What do you want with me?" None of the Cybermen seemed willing to expand on their statement. Rose shot the Doctor a worried glance.

"That's all very well and good except for one problem," the Doctor mocked.

"And what is that?" The Doctor smiled at them. Not a reassuring expression like he had given Rose. More of a 'it's-almost-pathetic-how-stupid-you-are-i'm-the-D octor-don't-mess-with-me' kind of smile.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you? There's one thing you never put in a trap. If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap." The Doctor's eyes glinted dangerously. He looked threatening, more and more like the Oncoming Storm. Rose bit her lip anxiously, never truly having seen the Doctor quite so...dark.

"Me," he finished. "More importantly, you lot have made an even bigger mistake. Biggest mistake you could possibly make. Never, ever, put the people I care about in danger. I can't show mercy for that," he added threateningly. He softened his expression for a fleeting second when he looked at Rose and then once again coldly turned towards the Cybermen.

"You are not in a position to make threats," one of the Cybermen replied.

"I always am," the Doctor said in an even tone. "I'm the Doctor."

After ignoring his brash statement and handcuffing Rose to the pipe opposite the Doctor, the Cybermen left the two of them in the room where so many things had begun and ended for the pair of them.

"After all these years, still Bad Wolf," Rose huffed. Her deep eyes swept over the two words. "Does it ever stop?"

"You're her, you tell me," the Doctor mused. Rose's eyes softened and she gave him her signature tongue-in-teeth smile.

"How long have you been like...this?" She nodded towards him, her eyes sweeping over his features. They froze on his chin and she grinned even more.

"A few hundred years," he mumbled, staring at the ground. Had it really been that long? Was he really so...old? Had his days with Rose, Martha, Jack, and Donna been so many years ago? His ninth and tenth regenerations had only lasted a few years each, this one...well this one had lasted much longer.

"Has it really been that long since you've seen me?" She asked, voicing his thoughts. The Doctor turned his somber expression back on her. "Only been seventy for me."

"You look beautiful for ninety," he heard himself saying. He blushed slightly and opened his mouth to say something to excuse what he had just said.

"You look nice for twelve-hundred."

"Thank you." He was smiling more than he had in the past few weeks since River had left. "Hold on, if you're supposed to be ninety, how the hell do you look like you're still twenty?"

"Um about that, bit of a complicated story," Rose began, only to be cut off by the Cybermen reentering the room. Their metallic boots hit the floor with a definitive sound each step. The Doctor's expression turned dark once again as he faced them.

"Eavesdropping is very rude," the Doctor warned

"You will remain silent."

Rose was thinking of a way to join in on the argument when she felt a strange sensation shoot throughout her whole body. She was numb. Her eyelids forced themselves shut as everything went to nothing.

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**Hi there. I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I tried to tie up a few loose ends but I'll be sure to add more in the coming parts. **

**Please review. I love getting feedback.**

**~Em**


	4. Unraveling

Rose was aware of several things. For one, she was lying on a cold metal floor. Secondly, she was no longer in handcuffs. Her eyes flew open and she dug into her pocket for her sonic screwdriver only to realize that it had been destroyed by a Cyberman. Scoping out her surroundings Rose noticed that she wasn't in the same room as the Doctor. She felt nerves and anxiety in the pit of her stomach. The room was white and empty except for a single sleek monitor on the wall adjacent to where she was.

_Beep._ Rose turned to look for the source of the noise. _Beep. _There it was again. Suddenly, a previously unseen panel in the wall slid open. A middle aged woman stepped through the door and it shut behind her. She had stern grey eyes, black hair that went to her chin, and thin lips that Rose assumed were always turned down in a frown.

"Hello," Rose ventured. She kept her distance from the stranger, wary of the newcomer. Rose's senses were still re-calibrating and she felt a little off. If the woman made any move at Rose, she felt that she would be unprepared and too weak to fight back.

"Rose," the other woman regarded her. "They told me that you had woken up. I'm not usually one for introductions, but we're ever so delighted to have...made your acquaintance."

"We?"

"Ah yes, myself and my clients."

"What the hell are there Cyberman for then? You don't look metallic," Rose observed. She pretended to be watching the woman intently, however she was actually mentally calculating if there was a chance for her to escape through the door that had disappeared.

"Even creatures without emotion are willing to work for a certain incentive," the woman replied nonchalantly. She waved her hand as if to dismiss the idea. "We needed labor and lacked the personnel to do it. The Cybermen are merely low level employees."

Rose let the answer sink in before responding. "Alright. Well, whatever big plan you lot have cooking up, I don't see the point of keeping me here. I'm an ordinary human. Nothing special."

The woman laughed as if Rose had just made a joke. "Nothing special? The Doctor never takes anyone along who isn't special. Besides, you're lying. You aren't ordinary or human, am I right, Bad Wolf?"

Rose's breath hitched and she narrowed her eyes at the stranger. "Who are you?"

The other woman sighed. "No time for formalities I'm afraid. I believe the show is about to start," she hinted at the screen on the wall.

The monitor flickered to life and Rose watched in horror as the Doctor was strapped into a chair by two Cybermen. The room the Doctor was in looked different from hers. It was still white in color, however the door was visible and there were several computers lining the walls. The chair which held the Doctor was placed in the center of the room. _Beep beep._ Rose turned around and the woman was gone. Once she had turned her attention back on the screen, Rose noticed that the Doctor was now being confronted by a dark skinned man in an expensive looking suit. There was no sound but Rose could imagine that the conversation wasn't pleasant.

That was the moment when the Doctor seemed to notice that there was a camera in the room with him. His eyes grew wide and he seemed to be screaming a thousand words at her through those green orbs. The man interrogating him noticed this and simply hit him hard across the face. Rose sunk to the ground, covering her eyes. She hadn't come back here to see this. She hadn't traveled all this way to watch him be beaten. Old feelings Rose up into the pit of her stomach and Rose tried to keep herself from seeing anything else. That was when they turned the sound on in her room.

"Tell me Doctor, your blonde friend, how did you meet her?" A rough voice asked. The Doctor said nothing. The man sighed and put his hands on either side of the Doctor's head, once again turning it forcefully towards the camera. "She's listening right now you know. Wave hello to your special little companion. Oh silly me, you can't can you?" The man laughed, eyeing the Doctor's restraints. "I asked you a very simple question. How did you meet her?"

"I blew up the shop she worked in." The Doctor finally admitted somewhat reluctantly. This made Rose smile slightly as she remembered a leather clad him and living plastic. "Why do you lot care?"

"All in good time, Doctor."

"Never liked waiting. Tell me, how did you manage to get her here?" His voice sounded on edge. The Doctor glanced sideways at the computers, searching for any telling information.

"The Cybermen captured her ship as it neared Satellite Five. A second TARDIS, now I thought they were all gone except for yours. The rumors are that you stole yours and ran away. Tell me Doctor, are you a coward who always runs?"

"That's me," the Doctor said bitterly.

"What else should I have expected? The Oncoming Storm is nothing more than a lonely mad man who stole a box and a few people along the way to see the universe. Only thing is, those people never leave whole, do they?" The man was staring at the camera and straight through Rose.

"Stop it," the Doctor growled.

"Why should I? This is such fun," the man laughed. The Doctor's facial expression was strange. For a second time that day, Rose saw him as she'd never seen the Doctor ever before. There was rage seething from every pore of his body but his mouth was drawn into a tight, false- sense-of-calm expression.

"You know who I am. D'you really want to make me angry?"

"Oh, the ice man really is raging. Dear me, have I gone too far and upset you? Shame. I know what will calm you down. Enjoy your rest, Doctor." The man grinned reassuringly at the Time Lord, pulling out a needle from the inside of his coat. The Doctor struggled to get away but was unable to avoid it as the syringe was plunged into his neck. Reality seeped away as the Doctor fell unconscious.

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**Hello everyone. I hope that chapter came out as fast paced as I intended it to be.**

**So several things revealed, two evil conspirators, but an even worse mystery client. I was re-reading this and I realized that the man sort of sounds psychotic...but I like it. **

**I sincerely hope you liked this chapter. Please review!**

**~Em**


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